On Friday, 10th August 2018, Lewis Ludlow, who had pledged allegiance to the so-called ‘Islamic State’, pleaded guilty to a terrorist plot to drive a van into pedestrians on Oxford Street in London. He had hoped to kill up to 100 people.

Although he had professed Islam at the age of 17 and attended a mosque in Chatham, his ideology and actions stand in complete contradiction to the true teachings of Islam and are in contravention of the injunctions of the Holy Quran and the example of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sas). It is a sad irony that such persons try to further the cause of Islam by violating its injunctions.

We are approaching Eid-ul-Adha, the festival of sacrifices. This is an annual event when Muslims should be thinking about sacrificing their desires for the sake of the Divine Command to be the benefactors of humanity. At the pilgrimage which takes place at this time we shed our normal clothes to denote the discarding of our routine daily desires and in their place put on a simple white garment, denoting symbolically the immersion of the soul in a simple life free from the encumbrances of worldly desires.

Abraham’s name lives on because he was ready, together with his son Ishmael, to make the supreme sacrifice and not on account of any desire to kill another person under the motivation of vanity, anger or injured feeling, or through blindly following preachers of hate, oppression and mayhem. Let us follow his example and show the world that we occupy the moral high ground.

The Ahmadiyya Association for the Propagation of Islam (Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam) was established in Lahore in 1914 to promote the informed understanding of Islam in the West. In the UK it operated the Shah Jehan Mosque in Woking until the early 1960s. Its new headquarters is at Dar-us-Salaam, 15 Stanley Avenue, Wembley, HA0 4JQ, UK. In 1924, in Berlin, it built the first mosque in Continental Europe of the modern era. The German Government recognises the Berlin Mosque as part of the German national heritage. From its European and other centres around the world this organisation has taught that Islam promotes peace, harmony and mutual respect between all communities and nationalities.

We find it ironical that the burqa issue — once again given prominence in world media by Mr Boris Johnson MP — has arisen so close to the annual pilgrimage to Mecca next week.

Regarding the garb which pilgrims are required to put on, we find it stated in Dr Muhammad Muhsin Khan’s translation of Sahih Al-Bukhari, the second most authoritative book in Sunni Islam after the Quran — published, incidentally, in Saudi Arabia — that a woman should neither cover her face up to the eyes, nor cover her face completely. The words translated as meaning not to cover the face completely are, literally, ‘should not wear the burqa’.

Nadiya Hussain first came to public notice because of her intriguing and varied facial expressions in The Great British Bake Off. Through her face she communicated that Muslims are normal human beings who are part of general society. Her face has done more to create a favourable impression of Muslims than any campaign, argument or law could do. So the proof of the pudding is in the eating, in her case!

The Ahmadiyya Association for the Propagation of Islam (Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam) was established in Lahore in 1914 to promote the informed understanding of Islam in the West. In the UK it operated the Shah Jehan Mosque in Woking until the early 1960s. Its new headquarters is at Dar-us-Salaam, 15 Stanley Avenue, Wembley, HA0 4JQ, UK. In 1924, in Berlin, it built the first mosque in Continental Europe of the modern era. The German Government recognises the Berlin Mosque as part of the German national heritage. From its European and other centres around the world this organisation has taught that Islam promotes peace, harmony and mutual respect between all communities and nationalities.

In a large number of countries, Eid-ul-Adha will be held on 22 August 2018. Among these are: Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, South Africa and some other African countries, and even the Arab countries of Tunisia and Egypt.In most of these countries, the new moon was actually observed on 12 August, giving the date of 22 August for Eid-ul-Adha. (A few used calculation methods.)Saudi Arabia announced on 11 August that the new moon had been sighted and Eid-ul-Adha would be on 21 August. Many other countries followed the Saudi date without question.It was entirely impossible for the new moon to be seen in Saudi Arabia on 11 August, or in almost the whole of the world. This can be confirmed from any astronomical body, and from Muslim experts as well.It stands established that Saudi Arabia knowingly made a false announcement of moon sighting.If Saudi Arabia had not made its announcement, Eid-ul-Adha would have been celebrated in the vast majority of countries (except a few) on 22 August.Who is going to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for:knowingly making a false announcement in the name of Islam,breaking Muslim unity by preventing Eid from being held on the same day in most of the world?

The Ahmadiyya Association for the Propagation of Islam (Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam) was established in Lahore in 1914 to promote the informed understanding of Islam in the West. In the UK it operated the Shah Jehan Mosque in Woking until the early 1960s. Its new headquarters is at Dar-us-Salaam, 15 Stanley Avenue, Wembley, HA0 4JQ, UK. In 1924, in Berlin, it built the first mosque in Continental Europe of the modern era. The German Government recognises the Berlin Mosque as part of the German national heritage. From its European and other centres around the world this organisation has taught that Islam promotes peace, harmony and mutual respect between all communities and nationalities.

In his article which appeared in The Daily Telegraph on Monday 6th August, Boris Johnson, the former Foreign Secretary, told his readers that “it is absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes”, adding that any female student who appeared at school or in a lecture “looking like a bank robber” should be asked to remove it. This is not the first time Mr Johnson has expressed hatred for Islam and Muslims.

In 2005, Mr Johnson wrote in the Spectator: “To any non-Muslim reader of the Koran, Islamophobia — fear of Islam — seems a natural reaction, and, indeed, exactly what that text is intended to provoke”. He continued “Judged purely on its scripture — to say nothing of what is preached in the mosques — it is the most viciously sectarian of all religions in its heartlessness towards unbelievers.”

After the London bombings, he said: “That means disposing of the first taboo and accepting that the problem is Islam. Islam is the problem.” These are only some examples of Mr Johnson’s rantings by which he has tried to make Islamophobia respectable. We wonder whether he made his views known to the Saudi and other Muslim governments when he went round begging for trade deals.

Baroness Warsi was widely criticised by the Conservatives for saying that “It’s [Islamophobia] very widespread [in the Conservative party]. It exists right from the grassroots, all the way up to the top”. Boris Johnson’s statements prove that she was correct. The Conservatives criticise the Labour Party for failing to conduct an enquiry into allegations of antisemitism in the Party while failing to carry out a similar enquiry into Islamophobia in their own ranks.

We understand that the Prime Minister, Mrs Theresa has now, perhaps a little belatedly, backed calls for Mr Johnson to apologise. Some have pointed out that Mr Johnson appears to be adopting the ‘dog whistle’ politics so favoured by certain people in the United States in order to attract the support of the far right.

If he is prepared to stand corrected, Mr Johnson would benefit greatly from a careful study of the literature of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement, particularly the book Islam, Peace and Tolerance by Dr Zahid Aziz (now in its second edition) and the Translation of the Holy Quran with Commentary by Maulana Muhammad Ali.

We now demand that:

1. the Conservative Party hold an open enquiry into Islamophobia in its ranks;

2. those found to preach hatred of Islam and Muslims are expelled from the Party;

3. Mr Johnson be prosecuted for spreading hate speech — hatred of Islam and Muslims in this country.

The Ahmadiyya Association for the Propagation of Islam (Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam) was established in Lahore in 1914 to promote the informed understanding of Islam in the West. In the UK it operated the Shah Jehan Mosque in Woking until the early 1960s. Its new headquarters is at Dar-us-Salaam, 15 Stanley Avenue, Wembley, HA0 4JQ, UK. In 1924, in Berlin, it built the first mosque in Continental Europe of the modern era. The German Government recognises the Berlin Mosque as part of the German national heritage. From its European and other centres around the world this organisation has taught that Islam promotes peace, harmony and mutual respect between all communities and nationalities.

We are now at the end of Ramadan, and on Friday 15th June we will be celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr.

The Holy Quran explains to us what is the purpose of fasting in these words:

“O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may guard against evil…. And those who find it extremely hard may effect redemption by feeding a poor person. So whoever does good spontaneously, it is better for them; and that you fast is better for you if you know.” (2:183–184)

The Holy Quran also tells us that the greatest evil is to ignore the suffering of our fellows. That is why we say that Islam means I Shall Love All Mankind. And this is the message of the holy month of Ramadan. Just as an athlete goes through a long period of training, putting his or her body through the most difficult of trials in order to achieve an objective, so do Muslims put their bodies through a hard training to learn that whatever their circumstances, they must learn to smile and be good to others.

We pray that after Ramadan we do not forget what we learned during this training. We are facing harsh trials of prejudice against Islam. Muslims are being tortured and killed in Israel, Palestine, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, to name just a few places. Sadly, in Muslim majority countries Muslims themselves are killing each other over political and religious differences and this has continued during Ramadan.

We urge our brothers and sisters to take the moral high ground and show that we shall adhere to the highest moral standards even under the most trying of circumstances, as evidenced by our actions during Ramadan.

The Ahmadiyya Association for the Propagation of Islam (Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam) was established in Lahore in 1914 to promote the informed understanding of Islam in the West. In the UK it operated the Shah Jehan Mosque in Woking until the early 1960s. Its new headquarters is at Dar-us-Salaam, 15 Stanley Avenue, Wembley, HA0 4JQ, UK. In 1924, in Berlin, it built the first mosque in Continental Europe of the modern era. The German Government recognises the Berlin Mosque as part of the German national heritage. From its European and other centres around the world this organisation has taught that Islam promotes peace, harmony and mutual respect between all communities and nationalities.

We want to warn people in the West about the impending declaration of jihad by Muslims on the 17th May! At that time every able-bodied Muslim in the world is going to initiate open jihad wherever he or she lives! This state of jihad will be set to continue until 15th June as directed by the Holy Quran. It commands Muslims:

“O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may guard against evil … And those who find it extremely hard may affect redemption by feeding a poor person. So whoever does good spontaneously, it is better for them; and that you fast is better for you if you know.” (2:183–184)

The first thing this jihad will show non-Muslim friends is that Islam is not a new religion. It follows in a long line of great religions revealed by Allah for the guidance of mankind. Just as members of other religions were commanded to keep fast, so are Muslims. Remnants of fasting remain within other religions. In Christianity there are the forty days of fasting before Lent. In Hinduism, wives fast on special days and pray for their husbands’ long life and prosperity. Islam, in the words of Jesus Christ, came to fulfil the law, not to abrogate it, but it had to be the law as it was revealed to the original prophets and not the law modified over time.

This jihad will also make people realise, to their surprise perhaps, that Islam does not teach blind belief. Islam is a rational and scientific religion. It explains to its adherents why they are commanded to fast. Muslims are commanded to fast because fasting helps them guard against evil. By giving up the taking of food and water — things which are lawful in the normal course of events and on which our very lives depend — we are reminding ourselves how important it is that we stay away from those things which are forbidden. But Islam does not want to make religion an unbearable burden upon its followers. Allah tells us in the Holy Quran that He does not want to impose upon us a burden we cannot bear. So, if we cannot fast we can make recompense by feeding a poor person. The reason for such recompense is obvious, as well. One of the purposes of fasting is to make the well-fed feel pangs of hunger which are the daily experience of the poor. So if a Muslim cannot experience the pain himself or herself, that Muslim is required to relieve the pain of someone who experiences it regularly.

Islam is a great leveller of temporal differences of position, power, and wealth. All Islamic devotions sweep away these distinctions. During prayers the king and pauper stand shoulder to shoulder. During the Hajj, or pilgrimage, all go round the holy Kaaba together without distinction of rank or wealth, everyone clothed in the same simple white sheet.

When fasting, all Muslims are in the same boat. The mighty king with his kitchens, chefs and stores of food is just as helpless in the matter of eating and drinking during the month of Ramadan as a poor person who can hardly afford a square meal. Remove the trappings of this world and we are all the same is the lesson of all Islamic religious devotions.

The Holy Prophet Muhammad explained further the purpose of fasting in these words:

“He who does not give up uttering falsehood and acting according to it, Allah has no need of his giving up food and drink.”

This shows that fasting is about doing one’s best to become a better person; a more truthful, honest, kind and helpful person. It is not an exercise in slimming, beneficial though it may be. That we do not always achieve the ideal does not mean we should not aspire to it. The important thing is that even if we make a small change for the better in our character and habits, the change is permanent. Otherwise we will be like the student who keeps repeating the last year of his school without ever sitting GCSEs! If we keep trying we may, one day, get close to achieving the ideal.

This jihad puts the people of this country in great danger because if our Muslim brothers and sisters act upon the injunctions of the Holy Quran regarding fasting, both in letter and in spirit, they will see that Islam is not the blood thirsty religion it is portrayed to be. Please warn your readers to beware that Muslims are about to launch a great jihad which will have a devastating impact upon the people of this country and make them realise that real jihad is not a bloody war against others but one against our own demons.

The Ahmadiyya Association for the Propagation of Islam (Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam) was established in Lahore in 1914 to promote the informed understanding of Islam in the West. In the UK it operated the Shah Jehan Mosque in Woking until the early 1960s. Its new headquarters is at Dar-us-Salaam, 15 Stanley Avenue, Wembley, HA0 4JQ, UK. In 1924, in Berlin, it built the first mosque in Continental Europe of the modern era. The German Government recognises the Berlin Mosque as part of the German national heritage. From its European and other centres around the world this organisation has taught that Islam promotes peace, harmony and mutual respect between all communities and nationalities.

For
the last two hundred years, a debate has
ranged in the Muslim world about how Muslims living under non-Muslim
governments should live and behave. The Holy Quran is clear on this. It states:
“O you who believe, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in
authority from among you …” (4:59) Rather than
take this simple statement at face value, convoluted arguments were used
to show that it means that Muslims are to obey only Muslim governments, although
actual history negated such arguments. During the lifetime of the Holy
Prophet Muhammad, Muslims lived in peace under the Christian ruler, the Negus,
obeying his government and its rules. The Holy Prophet referred to the Negus as
‘our brother’.

120
years ago, His Holiness Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who was divinely raised to correct
the Muslim misunderstanding of the Holy Quran, declared that so long as Muslims
have the freedom to practice and preach their religion, they should live in
peace under a non-Muslim government. He further declared that when dealing with
people a Muslim should never consider a petitioner’s religion or sect, telling
a newly qualified doctor: “only think: Allah has put the gift of healing in my
hand by which I can benefit humanity”.

It has taken our brothers and sisters a long time to
accept this. Gulf News, on
7th May 2018, underneath the headline “Good Muslims must strive to
be good citizens, scholars say”, reported on a two-day international conference on Muslim minorities held in Abu
Dhabi. Dr Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, chairman of the Supreme Committee of the conference is quoted as saying: “The
conference aims at spreading the culture of peace and tolerance between
adherents of religions and cultures and contributing to safeguarding the
children of Muslim minorities against violence and extremism and defending the
rights of these religious and cultural minorities according to international
conventions and treaties”.

The article quotes another
contributor, Abaas Yunas, head of the think tank Futures Initiative, who said: “The
same issues which face Muslim minorities face other minorities —
discrimination, the rise of nationalism and xenophobia, identity politics and
so on. What is important in such a time is the need to work towards alliances
of common good that are not restricted to people of the same religion or
ethnicity. Many Muslims are proud citizens of their towns and cities and just
like others, they want to see good for them”.

“Professor
Akbar Ahmad”, continues the article, “author, poet and playwright, who
currently serves as the Ibn Khaldoun Chair of Islamic Studies at American
University in Washington, DC, said the holy Quran very emphatically speaks of
all humanity as being a part of the same divine order”, and it quotes these
words from Prof. Ahmad: “Muslims in the minority must learn to live comfortably
both as citizens of their country and as Muslims. Indian Muslims should feel
both Indian and Muslim; British Muslims should feel both British and Muslim. It
is this sense of compatibility that must evolve in order for majority and
minority communities to live together in peace”.

This
organisation has been making just these points for over a century, struggling
against the erroneous understanding of
the Holy Quran on the part of Muslims and non-Muslims alike. There is no disputing
that Muslims are a target of hatred and
discrimination, but we need to accept that the
outdated views of our brothers have contributed to rise of Islamophobia. We praise Western
governments for upholding the rule of law, providing us with protection and
prosecuting those indulge in hate speech.

We,
yet again, invite our brothers to reflect upon the time they have lost by
rejecting the correct interpretation of the disputed verses of the Holy Quran
put forward by His Holiness Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah of Islam.
The time which could have been better spent
in moving forward to provide humanity with the solutions to its problems. It is
still not too late, let us join hands and move forward.

The Ahmadiyya
Association for the Propagation of Islam (Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam) was
established in Lahore in 1914 to promote the informed understanding of Islam in
the West. In the UK it operated the Shah Jehan Mosque in Woking until the early 1960s. Its new headquarters is at Dar-us-Salaam,
15 Stanley Avenue, Wembley, HA0 4JQ, UK. In 1924, in Berlin, it built the
first mosque in Continental Europe of the modern era. The German Government
recognises the Berlin Mosque as part of the German national
heritage. From its European and other centres around the world this
organisation has taught that Islam promotes peace, harmony and mutual respect
between all communities and nationalities.

World Ameer of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement says “Allah is Lord of the whole of humanity!”

In 1924, the World Centre of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement completed the construction of a mosque in Berlin.

It was the first mosque to be built in Continental Europe in the modern era.

A message of peace, harmony, inclusiveness and love was disseminated from its pulpits. Many notable scholars including Einstein and other Nobel Laureates visited the mosque. The mosque became the hub of all important literary and intellectual activity, producing the first translation of the Holy Quran into German by a Muslim, the monthly magazine Moslemische Revue and much other literature. The mosque would be visited by notable Muslim scholars and leaders.

It is unique in that during World War II, a lady called Amina Mosler kept the mosque open and functioning. When the Russian army started shelling the mosque she nailed a piece of red cloth to a stick, raised it high and ran towards the Russian guns that were firing towards the mosque. The Russians took this as a sign of peace and stopped firing. Though damaged, the mosque survived and after the war returned to its teachings of peace, tolerance and love.

It needed major repairs in order to regain its Taj Mahal-like beauty. Some years ago, the World Ameer of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement initiated a project for the complete renovation of the mosque and its compound, which are now listed buildings.

The work on the restoration of the exterior was eventually completed and the World Ameer of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement, His Holiness Dr Abdul Karim Saeed, has reopened the mosque and rededicated it to the mission of establishing peace between religions and communities. Representatives of the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of Denmark, the Jewish community and other religious bodies were present and presents were given to the mosque as a gesture of goodwill. A tapestry which took a year to make by hand was presented by the Muslim community. Members of the Church of Denmark and the World Ameer planted a rose bush to represent the beauty and fragrance of love and friendship between the Church and the mosque.

The gathering ended after dinner with a prayer to Allah from those present to help grow the seed of love into a strong and evergreen tree. May Allah accept our dedication of the Berlin mosque to this noble task.

The Ahmadiyya Association for the Propagation of Islam (Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam) was established in Lahore in 1914 to promote the informed understanding of Islam in the West. In the UK it operated the Shah Jehan Mosque in Woking until the early 1960s. Its new headquarters is at Dar-us-Salaam, 15 Stanley Avenue, Wembley, HA0 4JQ, UK. In 1924, in Berlin, it built the first mosque in Continental Europe of the modern era. The German Government recognises the Berlin Mosque as part of the German national heritage. From its European and other centres around the world this organisation has taught that Islam promotes peace, harmony and mutual respect between all communities and nationalities.

Mr Justice Haddon-Cave in his judgement observed that the Holy Quran and Islam teach peace

Ahmed Hassan, an Iraqi asylum seeker, was taken in by the UK and provided with free food, accommodation, education and medical facilities by our country. He repaid us by trying to blow up an underground train at Parsons Green Tube Station. Sentencing him to a minimum term of 34 years, Mr Justice Haddon-Cave made the following observation:

“Finally, Ahmed Hassan, let me say this to you. You will have plenty of time to study the Qur’an in prison in the years to come. You should understand that the Qur’an is a book of peace; Islam is a religion of peace. The Qur’an and Islam forbid anything extreme, including extremism in religion. Islam forbids breaking the ‘law of the land’ where one is living or is a guest. Islam forbids terrorism (hiraba). The Qur’an and the Sunna provide that the crime of perpetrating terror to ‘cause corruption in the land’ is one of the most severe crimes in Islam. So it is in the law of the United Kingdom. You have, therefore, received the most severe of sentences under the law of this land. You have violated the Qur’an and Islam by your actions, as well as the law of all civilized people. It is to be hoped that you will come to realise this one day.”

This is a wonderful summary of Islamic teaching. We are saddened that our own brothers and sisters fail to understand the Holy Quran and Islam. On the day that Mr Justice Haddon-Cave was making these remarks, yet another Muslim was holding hostage innocent women and children and killing them.

Muslim do have genuine grievances which need to be redressed but terror is not the way to redress them. We should occupy the moral high ground and show by our action and our patience that we are the injured party and that the world should listen to us.

Blowing up innocent people going to work, or taking and killing hostages in countries which have been kind enough to give our brothers and sisters sanctuary is not the answer.

The Ahmadiyya Association for the Propagation of Islam (Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam) was established in Lahore in 1914 to promote the informed understanding of Islam in the West. In the UK it operated the Shah Jehan Mosque in Woking until the early 1960s. Its new headquarters is at Dar-us-Salaam, 15 Stanley Avenue, Wembley, HA0 4JQ, UK. In 1924, in Berlin, it built the first mosque in Continental Europe of the modern era. The German Government recognises the Berlin Mosque as part of the German national heritage. From its European and other centres around the world this organisation has taught that Islam promotes peace, harmony and mutual respect between all communities and nationalities.

About 40 years ago, this organisation made a rule that its imams shall not perform a nikah unless a civil marriage had been registered. We did this to save the parties from legal difficulties and hardship if the marriage broke down. We also struggled for a change to the law to make sure that this happens. We tried everything we could think of but without success.

The Times has just announced that the Government is going to change the law and require that before a nikah takes place the couple must register a civil marriage. An imam who performs a nikah without making sure that a civil marriage has taken place will face prosecution.

This is a great victory for common sense. It vindicates our struggle over 40 years and shows that in our country, eventually, the Government will come to the right conclusion.

The Ahmadiyya Association for the Propagation of Islam (Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam) was established in Lahore in 1914 to promote the informed understanding of Islam in the West. In the UK it operated the Shah Jehan Mosque in Woking until the early 1960s. Its new headquarters is at Dar-us-Salaam, 15 Stanley Avenue, Wembley, HA0 4JQ, UK. In 1924, in Berlin, it built the first mosque in Continental Europe of the modern era. The German Government recognises the Berlin Mosque as part of the German national heritage. From its European and other centres around the world this organisation has taught that Islam promotes peace, harmony and mutual respect between all communities and nationalities.